How to disable SMS messages in Hangouts for Android

By Ed Rhee2013-11-08

Hangouts for Android now has SMS integration. If you opted to give it a try, but still prefer using separate apps, you can disable it in Hangouts.

Version 2.0 of Google Hangouts for Android now has SMS/MMS integration, as promised by Google back in May. It finally began rolling out to users on Thursday, and the feature adds convenience for people who use text messaging and Hangouts by unifying the two into a single app.

The first time you launch Hangouts after the update, you're prompted to enable SMS in Hangouts or try it later. If you opted to give SMS in Hangouts a try, but still prefer using separate apps, you can disable the SMS integration.

On devices running
Android 4.3 or lower, disable SMS in Hangouts by going to Settings > SMS, then uncheck the box next to "Turn on SMS."